JEWELLERY & WATCHES 73 demanding four days of craftsmanship – three days for the engraving , and one for the painstaking application of gradated shades of red , orange and yellow . Every 3D aspect is modelled and rendered with utmost precision , from the scales of its rippling tail to its gleaming whiskers and the individual details of its claws .
THE ART OF INVENTION
Worlds collide as this fantastical creature wraps itself around a masterpiece of high-tech , avantgarde horology : the Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon . Audaciously structured behind the dragon and the skeletonized dial , the Blast Tourbillon ’ s manufacture movement , Calibre UN-172 , is as unorthodox as it is ingenious . Ulysse Nardin ’ s first skeleton tourbillon calibre with automatic winding launched in 2020 , it features a platinum micro-rotor visible at 12 o ’ clock , a tiny but miraculous device that delivers up to three days of power reserve .
As ever with Ulysse Nardin ’ s most advanced timepieces , the flying tourbillon at 6 o ’ clock benefits from the Maison ’ s pioneering expertise in silicon fabrication . Introduced for the first time in 2001 with the revolutionary Freak , this material used for the escapement wheel , pallet fork , and balance spring adds further performance and resistance benefits .
DESIGNING THE FUTURE
With the Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon , the movement and case are unified in both concept and construction – strikingly architectural , relentlessly modernistic , and emblematic of the independent Manufacture ’ s enduring mission to rethink and reinvent haute horlogerie .
The rose gold upper case , with its angular facets and its opulent variations in satin-brushed and polished finishes , is paired with a bezel and case middle in DLC-blackened titanium , all mounted on an integrated black alligator strap with a 5N rose gold and black PVD titanium folding clasp .
For those who seek the extraordinary and the daring , the Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon Dragon is an embodiment of in-house innovations , métiers d ’ art and the magic of the Year of the Dragon . Fusing ancient mythology and cutting-edge horology , it invites you to celebrate the power and prosperity that this iconic symbol represents .
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ISSUE 63 2024 THE ART OF LUXURY